Post subject: Re: Expansionism back on the agenda?
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 8:18 am
Smiggs
Club Owner
Joined: Jan 30 2004 Posts: 9673 Location: Hull
number 6 wrote:You want league to survive, grow and be on a par with union? Think big or would rather us moan about low salary cap, attendances, TV money and be a minority sport in the eyes of the media?
To grow big you got to think big, thank God there is someone like perez in our game now and not the chairman who hold us back knowing that they will never get more than 1500 at home games
I want league to be healty and sustainable, growth is great but to be as big as union not a chance.
Post subject: Re: Expansionism back on the agenda?
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 11:55 am
C for Cuckoo
International Chairman
Joined: Dec 22 2001 Posts: 3466 Location: Hull
It could expand the player pool. There's a lot of professional level athletes in the US and Canada without a gig after college. Championship 1 is a bit of a step down after the glamour of college football but some might want to give it a go.
Post subject: Re: Expansionism back on the agenda?
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 3:41 pm
Tinkerman23
Player Coach
Joined: Jan 20 2010 Posts: 2152
The Dentist Wilf wrote:Well having seen this afternoon how far Toronto have come in a few months and the sponsorship deal they have done with an airline plus listening to Eric Perez their CEO talk about their plans, it is all becoming real and I can see them doing well. The great thing is everything including finance in place is phased over three years. in fact I think if the RL had grown some and put them in Bradford's place in the Championship they would have worried a lot of teams. If it works and I think at present it might, I can see the Florida thing happening and Toulousse coming through as well.
However I fear that if the big blue print comes to pass then it will be curtains for a lot of traditional clubs who have struggled year on year and the game could become unrecognisable. Or like so many other attempts in the past it could just collapse on the rocks of distance lack of progress and the amateurish way we organise the game. But I think that something has to happen to the game because it is now largely dependant on TV money and we desperately need new audiences. its an interesting one though isn't it?
This, a wasted year hammering everyone in division 1, and bradford having no chance in championship starting on -12, may as well had a season in division 1, and toronto having a competitive year in the championship
Post subject: Re: Expansionism back on the agenda?
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 3:44 pm
Tinkerman23
Player Coach
Joined: Jan 20 2010 Posts: 2152
Smiggs wrote:I want league to be healty and sustainable, growth is great but to be as big as union not a chance.
dont think the domestic leagues are to far apart regarding attendances, just the International is so far ahead in union, really dont get it, how can anyone who finds union exciting not get hooked on league
Post subject: Re: Expansionism back on the agenda?
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 7:19 pm
UllFC
Club Owner
Joined: Mar 27 2004 Posts: 17358
The current system of starting teams in League1 where overheads are low (so risk of investment is lower) is a much better strategy than plonking teams in SL and hoping for the best.
Also fans love to see winning teams, Toulouse walked League1 last year (slip up in Grand Final aside!) and I have no doubt Toronto will find League1 easy this year. Who knows what might have happened to London Bronco's all those years ago had this approach been taken back then. I'd also like to see the game focus on getting clubs set up in Manchester (proper Manchester not Salford) and Liverpool, as these are two massive untapped markets right on the M62.
the perennial problem with Rugby League is sticking to a long or even medium term strategy. They'll probably rip up the league format again in a couple of years, and teams have to change their business models again.
Post subject: Re: Expansionism back on the agenda?
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 7:33 pm
R.B.A
Moderator
Joined: Apr 06 2004 Posts: 4040
UllFC wrote:The current system of starting teams in League1 where overheads are low (so risk of investment is lower) is a much better strategy than plonking teams in SL and hoping for the best.
Also fans love to see winning teams, Toulouse walked League1 last year (slip up in Grand Final aside!) and I have no doubt Toronto will find League1 easy this year. Who knows what might have happened to London Bronco's all those years ago had this approach been taken back then. I'd also like to see the game focus on getting clubs set up in Manchester (proper Manchester not Salford) and Liverpool, as these are two massive untapped markets right on the M62.
the perennial problem with Rugby League is sticking to a long or even medium term strategy. They'll probably rip up the league format again in a couple of years, and teams have to change their business models again.
Might be mistaken but didn't Fulham start life in division 2?
"Dream Big..Work Hard".................. Sarah Storey, Paralympic Legend.
Post subject: Re: Expansionism back on the agenda?
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 7:46 pm
UllFC
Club Owner
Joined: Mar 27 2004 Posts: 17358
R.B.A wrote:Might be mistaken but didn't Fulham start life in division 2?
They did, and won promotion at first attempt, then yo-yo'd up and down for a few years. But it was the decision to put them in SL despite not tearing it up in the 2nd division that I was referring to. A more steady growth may have been better in the long-run than the crash and burn 'move to every borough of London' stuff that happened.
Post subject: Re: Expansionism back on the agenda?
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 10:55 pm
headhunter
Club Owner
Joined: Aug 17 2003 Posts: 17226 Location: South Wales
the artist wrote:out of interest what sort of crowds are toulouse getting?
Around 4,000 at the Catalans friendly yesterday.
The biggest ever crowd for a Catalans match in France was actually a match on the road in Toulouse in about 2013, which IIRC had about 13,000. I imagine in SL they would probably be getting similar crowds to Catalans, if not slightly bigger due to Toulouse being a bigger and more cosmopolitan place than Perpignan. Outside of the obvious challenge of getting into Super League, the biggest problem would probably be that Toulouse's current ground only holds around 5,000, so it might be a case of them having to play at the RU ground for a couple of years if they did get promoted.
King Street Cat wrote:Some might look at this as being harsh but I think it's fair. When are the Rugby League going to stop persisting with this fantasy expansion. If it hasn't worked by now, it never will! I'm all for reaching out to a wider audience with our game but not at the expense of historical clubs in the homelands.
Post subject: Re: Expansionism back on the agenda?
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 1:07 pm
Mild Rover
Moderator
Joined: Jun 01 2007 Posts: 12664 Location: Leicestershire.
ccs wrote:You're living in dream land. So you'll be making 7 or 8 trips abroad every year? Don't make me laugh. It's financially unsustainable.
I've just read on the BBC that Toronto have sold nearly 10,000 season tickets for Championship 1. It that is correct, it is beyond encouraging - it's actually astonishing.
Longer-term sustainability has always been where clubs outside the heartlands have fallen down, so there's bound to be some scepticism - but I doubt any have ever made that strong a start.
Super Rugby (Union) now has teams in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Japan and Argentina.
'Thus I am tormented by my curiosity and humbled by my ignorance.' from History of an Old Bramin, The New York Mirror (A Weekly Journal Devoted to Literature and the Fine Arts), February 16th 1833.
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